Razor cartridge and holder therefor

ABSTRACT

A cartridge which contains a razor band and which is reversible in its holder so that both edges of the band may be used for shaving purposes. The cartridge has ridges or bosses for protruding through openings provided in the band midway of the band edges for holding the band in proper shaving position in the cartridge and allowing the band to be moved over the ridges into successive shaving positions. The band is wound on and from a pair of rolls in the cartridge which are of different circumference than a shaving length of the blade so that the rolls can be used for counting the blade lengths used. The holder includes direct drive means for one of the rolls for causing this roll to be used for blade take-up and a gear meshable with a gear on the other roll so that the latter roll can be used for blade take-up.

Bleuer June 26, 1973 Y RAZOR CARTRIDGE AND HOLDER THEREFOR Inventor: Keith T. Bleuer, 1663 Wilshire =Drive, N.E., Rochester, Minn. 55901 Filed: Mar. 8, 1971 App]. No.: 121,712

US. Cl. Bil/40.1, 30/3465 Int. Cl 1326b 21/26 Field of Search 30/40.], 34 A, 346.5;

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 8/1971 Forehand 30/40.i 3/197i Kuhn] 30/40.1 li/l97l Braginetz 30/401 6/1971 Perry 30140.1

Primary Examiner--Otheil M. Simpson Assistant ExaminerGary L. Smith [5 7] ABSTRACT A cartridge which contains a razor band and which is reversible in its holder so that both edges of the band may be used for shaving purposes. The cartridge has ridges or bosses for protruding through openings provided in the band midway of the band edges for holding the band in proper shaving position in the cartridge and allowing the band to be moved over the ridges into successive shaving positions. The band is wound on and from a pair of rolls in the cartridge which are of different circumference than a shaving length of the blade so that the rolls can be used for counting the blade lengths used. The holder includes direct drive means for one of the rolls for causing this roll to be used for blade takeup and a gear meshable with a gear on the other roll so that the latter roll can be used for blade take-up.

11 Claims, 18 Drawing Figures 1 RAZOR CARTRIDGE AND HOLDER THEREFOR The invention relates to razors and more particularly to cartridges or magazines for ribbon-like shaving blades wherein successive lengths of blade may be rendered available for shaving and also to a holder for the cartridge with the construction of cartridge and holder being such that the cartridge may be reversed in the holder so that both edges of the blade may be used for shaving.

It has been previously proposed in a U.S. Pat. to Warren l. Nissen No. 3,262,198, issued July 26, 1966, that a cartridge for ribbon-like shaving blade be utilized in connection with a holder for the cartridge so that successive lengths of one edge of the blade may be used for shaving.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a cartridge of this general type which is so constructed that the cartridge may be reversed in the cartridge holder so that both edges of the blade may be used for shaving.

It is a further object of the invention to provide improved means for positioning such a blade on a flat supporting surface of the cartridge for holding the blade in shaving position with respect to the cartridge, the improved blade holding means including boss es extending through openings in the blade spaced from the shaving edges of the blade. I

It is another object of the invention to provide. an improved blade length counting means and more particularly to provide a ribbon blade supply roll in such a cartridge which has a circumference different from the shaving length of the blade so that, when the roll is used as the supply roll, it rotates for other than one full revolution in moving the blade from one shaving position to another so that marked indicia on the roll and its supporting structure can be used for indicating successive shaving lengths. Still more particularly, it is an object to provide such blade length indicating indicia with respect to two such rolls in the cartridge so that, when the cartridge is reversed in its holder, either one of the rolls or the other may be used for indicating successive shaving lengths of the blade. I

It is another object of the invention to provide in an improved cartridge of this type having a pair of blade take-up and supply rolls, improved means for driving one of the rolls or the other, depending on which way the cartridge is positioned in its holder. More particularly, it is an object to provide such an improved cartridge in which one of the two rolls may be directly driven and in which gearing is used for driving the other of the rolls.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an improvedcartridge holder for a reversible cartridge and which is adapted to drive either one of a pair of take-up and supply'rolls in the cartridge depending on which way the cartridge is positioned in the holder.

It has also been previously proposed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,578 issued on Apr. 2, 1968, to Warren I. Nissen and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,375,577 issued to Paul W. Douglass et a]. on Apr. 2, 1968, that a cartridge of the general type described in the previously mentioned Nissen U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,198 be provided with adjustable guards whereby the guards may be moved upwardly or downwardly in the cartridge, toward and away from the plane of the supporting surface holding the ribbon blade in shaving position.

It is also an object of the present invention to provide, in a cartridge of the type previously mentioned, improved mechanism for adjustably moving guards with respect to a ribbon blade and a supporting surface for the blade.

The invention consists of the novel constructions, arrangements and devices to be hereinafter described and claimed for carrying out the above stated objects, and such other objects, as will be apparent from the following description of preferred forms of the invention, illustrated with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of a razor cartridge embodying the principles of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the cartridge;

FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view of the cartridge;

FIG. 4 is a side view of the cartridge;

FIG. 5 is a side elevational view of the cartridge located in place in a holder;

FIG. 6 is an elevational view of a gear which is a part of the holder;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 77 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an elevational view of a spring constituting a part of the holder;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of a portion of the ribbon-like shaving blade used in the cartridge;

FIG. 10 is a sectional view taken on line 10-10 of FIG. 9;

FIG. 11 is a developed view of the path of travel of the blade within the cartridge, illustrating various ridges or bosses over which the blade travels;

FIG. 12 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 12-12 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken 'on line 13-13 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 14 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on-line 14-14 of FIG. 11;

FIG. 15 is a front elevational view of a cartridge constituting a modification of the invention;

FIG. 16 is a side elevational view of the cartridge illustrated in FIG. 15 installed in a holder;

FIG. 17 is a sectional view taken on line 17-17 of FIG. 15; and

FIG. 18 is a sectional view on an enlarged scale taken on line 18-18 of FIG. 17.

Like characters of reference designate like parts in the several views.

Referring now inparticular to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 13 of the drawings, the razor cartridge or magazine A illustrated therein may be seen to include a cover or casing 200 and a base or back 202 which together form a housing. The cover 200 has side portions 204 and 206 and the back 202 is fixed within the cover 200 by any simple means, such as, for example cementing, or interlocking parts of the cover 200 and back 202 may be provided, similar to the locking lugs 31 and other snap type connections disclosed in Nissen U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,198, hereinbefore mentioned. The cover 200 includes inner cylindrical surfaces 208 and 210 constituting inner surfaces of the portions 204 and 206 respectively, and the back 202 is formed with a flat surface 212 and a pair of cylindrical surfaces 214 and 216 on the two opposite ends of the surface 212.

The back 202 has a pair of guards 218' and 220 formed integrally therewith; and the guards are, for most of their length, separated from the rest of the back through the back 202 is provided 202 by means of debris removal slots 222 and 224. The guards 218 and 220 are joined with the main part of the back 202 by means of ribs 226 in the centers of the guards.

The surface 212 is formed with raised ridges or bosses 228 and 230; the cylindrical surfaces 214 and 216 are respectively formed with raised ridges or bosses 232 and 234; and the cylindrical surface 208 and 210 are respectively formed with raised ridges or bosses 236 and 238. As is apparent from FIG. 1, the ridges 228 and 230 extend upwardly in the position of the magazine as illustrated in FIG. 1; the ridges 232 and 234 extend radially outwardly; and the ridges 236 and 238 extend inwardly. It will be observed from FIG. 11 that all of these ridges on both ends thereof (with the exception of ridges 228 and 230) gradually slope upwardly. The ridges 228 and 230 on opposite ends of the two ridges also gradually slope upwardly; however, the ridges 228 and 230 on their facing ends 228a and 230a abruptly slope upwardly. The slope is taken from a face surface 240 which, as will hereinafter appear, is the path of travel of a ribbon blade 242 in the magazine A. The path 240 includes the surfaces 210, 216, 212, 214 and 208; and some of the surfaces extend inwardly while others extend outwardly as previously mentioned. The ridges 236, 232, 228, 230, 234, and 238 are also preferably slanted on their sides such as is illustrated in connection with the ridge 228 in FIG. 14. The ridge 228, as illustrated, has sides a and b which extend at right angles to the path 240 and has obliquely extending surfaces c and d to terminate on a line of intersection e. The blade 242 is provided with pairs of slots 244 and 246 cut into it, and the width of these slots is designated by the dimension f. The width of the ridges 236, 232, 228, 230, 234 and 238, also shown asfin FIG. 14 is just slightly less than the width of the slots 244 and 246 so that the ridges 230 to 238 may protrude through the slots 244 and 246 with little clearance between the' sides a and b and the sides of the slots 244 and 246.

The blade 242 is an elongate ribbon which is sharpened on both of its edges 242a and 2421). The blade 242 is wrapped or wrappable on rolls 248 and 250 rotatably disposed in the cartridge A. The roll 250 has a central opening 252 through it and is provided with annular bosses 254 and 256 extending. through openings of about the same diameter provided in the cover 200 and back 202 respectively for rotatably mounting the roll 250 in the cartridge..The roll 250 on its end projecting with an annular depression 258, and the roll 250 is provided with a boss 260 having a sloping cam surface 260a in the depression 258. The roll 250 is provided with a slot 262 extending for most of its length from the cover 200 toward the back 202, and the ribbon blade 242 extends into the slot 262. The slot 262 is provided with an abutment 264, and the blade 242 is provided with an enlarged end 266 which fits against the abutment 264 so that the ribbon blade 242 cannot be drawn out of the slot 262. The end 266 of the ribbon 242 may conveniently be formed by spot welding a U-shaped clip thereto.

The roll 248 is larger in diameter than the roll 250 and is rotatably disposed in the cover 200 which is provided with an opening 200a through which the roll 248 extends for this purpose. The roll 248'is provided with an arbor portion 268 which is undercut to a slight exple, the length of a shaving edge of the blade opening 202a.

The roll 248 is provided with a slot 270 therethrough which is provided with an abutment 272 therein. The blade 242 is received in the slot 270, and the blade on this end is provided with an enlargement 274 similar to the enlargement 266; and the enlargement 274 retains the blade 242 from moving out of the slot 270. The roll 248 is formed with a gear 276 overlying the cover 200. The gear 276 acts as a counter in addition to mechanism for driving the roll 248, as will hereinafter appear; and, for counting purpose, the gear 276 is provided with an arrow 278 imprinted thereon. The cover 200 is provided with a set of numerals 280 on its outer surface, and the arrow 278 will align with the numbers 280 as the blade lengths are used, as will appear. The numerals 280 may for example be 20, l9, l8, 17, 16, 15, 14, 13, 12, and 11, all substantially equally spaced about the center of the roll 248 as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The roll 250 is also intended to be used as a counter in addition to mechanism for taking up the blade 242; and, for the counting purpose, the roll 250 is provided with an arrow 282 within the depression 258; and the arrow 282 aligns with a set of numerals 284 imprinted on the exterior side of the back 202. The numerals 284 may, for example, be the numerals 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 as illustrated in FIG. 3.

In order for the blade edge counting action to best take place, for both directions of movement of the blade 242 in the magazine, the circumference of the roll 248 should preferably be greater than the.length of a shaving blade edge, and the circumference of the roll 250 shouldpreferably be less than the length of the shaving edge. The shaving edge is approximately the distance between the curved surfaces 214 and 216 and more particularly is the length g shown on FIG. 9. The dimension g is measured from a center line 286 to a center line 288. The center line 286 is located midway between a pair of openings 244 and 246 (which receive the ridges 228 and 230 when the blade is in a shaving position) and the center line 288 is midway between an adjacent pair of openings 244 and 246 which also receive the ridges 228 and 230 when the blade has been moved into its next shaving position. Just as an exam- 242 may be 1 9/16 inches or 1.562 inches. Thediameter of the large roll 248 may then, for example, be 0.542 inch, and the diameter of the small roll 250 may be, for example, 0.459 inch. The circumference of the rolls 248 and 250 are in this case 1.705 inch and 1.44 inch, respectively, which are respectively greater and smaller than the shaving edge length of 1 9/16 inches or 1.5 62 inches. Under these conditions, for a movement of the blade 242 from a position in which one shaving edge is in position to a position in which the next shaving edge is in position (with the ridges 228 and 230 extending through slots 244 and 246 respectively in each case), the roll 248 will have rotated about 330 degrees while the roll 250 will have rotated about 390 degrees. It is contemplated that the blade 242 shall be preferably extremely thin, such as 0.0015 inch, so the blade thickness in wrapping on therolls 248 and 250 makes little difference in the angular movement of the rolls between shaving positions of the blade 242.

The holder B for receiving the cartridge A may comprise a handle 290 to which is fixed a head 292. The head 292 may be of sheet metal, and the handle 290 may be of plastic, with the head 292 being suitably joined to the handle 290, such as by embedding the head 292 into the handle 290. The head 292 includes a lip 294 which, when the cartridge is in position in the holder as shown in FIG. 5, bears down on the blade 242 and holds the blade 242 firmly on the flat surface 212 of the cartridge. The head 292 also includes an indentation or recess 296 for receiving the bosses 298 and 300 which are provided on opposite ends of the cover 200 and which hold the cartridge A in position in the head 292. The cartridge A is also held in position in the holder B by means of a snap-action latch 302. This latch and the rest of the mechanism for actuating the latch may be substantially the same as the snap-action latch 46 and its connected mechanism disclosed in Nissen U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,l98 previously referred to.

The head 292 has an outwardly extending cylindrical portion 304 which terminates in an annular rim 306 of greater thickness than the portion 304. A knob 308 is rotatably disposed on the portion 304 and rim 306 and has a groove 310 for receiving the rim 306 for holding the knob 308 in position. The portion 304 and rim 306 may, for example, have a longitudinal slot cut into them so that the knob 308 may simply be pushed axially into its illustrated position against the resilient action of the rim 306 and cylindrical portion 304. The knob 308 has shaft portions 312 and 314 of smaller diameter than the knob itself, as shown in FIG. 5.

A gear 316 is rotatably disposed on the shaft portion 314 and is held in its illustrated position by means of a sleeve 318 which has a drive fit on the shaft portion 314. The sleeve 318 fits loosely in the opening 252 in the roll 250. The gear 316 has an arcuate slot 320 cut into it, and a spring 322 extends through the slot 320. The spring 322 closely encircles the shaft portion 312 and has one end 324 extending axially through the knob 308 to fix it to the knob 308. The spring 322 also has an axially extending tang or drive portion 325 and a cam portion 326 formed on its other end. The cam portion 326 may have camming action both with respect to the boss 260 and also with respect to the portion of the gear 316 between the ends of the slot 320, as will be more fully hereinafter described. The'teeth 328 of the gear 316 are provided with pointed ends 330 as shown in FIG. 7, and the gear 276 formed on the roll 248 is formed with similar pointed tooth ends 332 as shown in FiG. 1. I

The modified form of cartridge A illustrated in FIGS. to 18 of the drawings has the same basic construction as the cartridge just described, but the modified form of cartridge has guards 334 and 336 which may adjustably be moved up or down with respect to the cartridge. The guards 334 and 336 are formed on a U-shaped piece 338 which also has pin portions 340 and 342. The pin portions extend through slots 344 provided in the cover 200a and back 202a which correspond to the parts 200 and 202 previously described. The cover 200a and the back 202a are provided with tapering grooves 346 (see FIG. 18), and the pin portions 340 and 342 and adjacent portions of the piece 338 are provided with tapering surfaces 348 wedging with respect to the surfaces 346. The U-shaped piece 338 moves up and down in a slot 350 in the back 202a, and it is contemplated that the piece 338 shall be made of a resilient material, such as a suitable plastic, so that one of the guards 334 or 336 may be adjustably moved up and down in the cartridge without similar movement of the other guard.

In operation of the first form of the invention shown in FIGS. 1 to 14, the razor band 242 is preferably initially in its condition as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 in which it extends straight outwardly in the slot 262 and in which most of the band 242 is wound onto the large diameter roll 248. The cartridge A is then positioned in the head 292 oppositely with respect to its position as shown in FIG. 5 and with the gear 276 being disposed outwardly with respect to the head 292. The gear 276 then is on the same side of the assembly as the latch 302 and is positioned immediately above the latch 302. Under these conditions, the sleeve 318 is positioned loosely within the hole 252 through the roll 250, and the spring 322 extends through the slot 320 and into contact with the boss 260, assuming that the knob 308 and roll 250 are in corresponding rotative positions. The bosses 298 and 300 on the ends of the cartridge A are disposed in the recess 296 so that the upper end of the cartridge A is held with respect to the upper end of the head 292, and the latch 302 is moved to engage and hold the lower end of the cartridge A in the same manner as the latch 46 is effective on the magazine 17 in Nissen U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,198 hereinbefore mentioned.

With the razor band 242 being in its position as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the band 242 is in its first shaving position in which the ridges 228 and 230 extend respectively through the slots 244 and 246. The ridges 228 and 230 fit snugly within the slots 244 and 246 so that the razor band 242 isheld from lateral movement on the fiat surface 212 and is held in proper shaving position with respect to the guard 218. In this position, the blade 242 extends slightly beyond the edge of the flat surface 212, and the guard 218 lies outwardly with respect to the adjacent sharpened edge 242a of the band 242. The band 242 is held tightly in contact with the surface 212 by the lip 294, and with the blade 242 in this shaving position, it is in effect held fixed and centered on the surface 212. The razor may then be used in the ordinary manner for shaving, with the edge 242a i in particular being the shaving edge.

The ridges 228 and 230, together with the portion of the blade 242 that lies between the ridges, act as a blade detent means, yieldably holding the blade in a shaving position. When the first shaving edge as above described has been dulled through shaving usage, the knob 308 is rotated. The spring 322 is wrapped rather tightly about the shaft portion 312, and the spring portion 325 moves on the exterior surface of the roll 250 constituting the bottom surface of the depression 258 until the spring portion 325 makes contact with the high end of the boss 260 if the spring did not initially contact the boss 260. The spring 322 thus engages the boss 260 and rotates the roll 250, which is in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1. The band 242 thus begins to wrap up on the roll 250. At this time, the portion of the razor band 242 at the end of a slot 244 rides up the abruptly slanted end 228a of the ridge 228; and the band 242, although being held flat in contact with the surface 212, yields, since the band 242 is of spring steel, allowing the band 242 to begin sliding over the upper surface of the ridge 228, although the outer edge of the band 242 is still held flat in contact with the surface 212 by the lip 294. Since the end 2280 of the ridge 228 is abruptly slanted, the end 228a (as well as the end 230a of the ridge 230) acts as means detenting the blade 242 against longitudinal movement; but with an appreciable turning force being applied on to the knob 308 by the user, the band 242 begins to move against the detenting action of the ridges 230 and 228. With continued movement of the knob 38, the band 242 has continued movement until the blade 242 has moved another shaving edge into position on the surface 212; and at this time the portion of the blade 242 between the next adjacent openings 244 and 246 drops into the space between the ridges 228 and 230, so that the blade is again held in detented position in proper shaving relation with respect to the surface 212 and the guard 218.

During the longitudinal movement of the blade 242, the elongate openings 244 and 246 along the length of the blade 242 move to embrace and receive the ridges 236, 232, 228, 230, 234, and 238; and these ridges thus maintain the blade 242 properly centered within the cover 200 and the back 202 so that the sharpened edges 242a and 242b do not make contact with the surfaces of the cover 200 and the back 202 whereby the edges 242a and 242b are not dulled thereby. The ridges 236, 232, 228, 230, 234, and 238 have a centering action with respect to the blade 242, particularly since the ridges are provided with the relatively sharp edges e and the sloping surfaces c and d. The edges a and b which extend at right angles with respect to the path of travel of the blade 242 act as accurate positioning means for the blade 242, and the surfaces a and b on the ridges 228 and 230 accurately hold the blade 242 centered pntheflat surface212 in proper shaving position. Each ofthe'ridges 236, 232, 228, 230, 234, and 238 is provided with the relatively gradually sloping ends so that the ends of the blade openings 244 and 246 can relatively easily slide over the ridges; however, a definite detenting occurs when the portion of the blade between two adjacent openings 244 and 246 enters between the ridges 228 and 230; and the user may feel this detenting action of the blade 242 so as to stop turning the knob 308 at this time, with a fresh shaving edge being positioned on the surface 212.

When the second shaving edge (a part of the sharpened edge 242a) has been dulled through usage, the user may again rotate the knob 308 to bring a third shaving edge into position, with the ridges 228 and 230 again extending through a pair of elongate openings 244 and 246 respectively in the blade 242.

The gear 276 and particularly its arrow 278'in conjunction with the numbers 280 on the face of the cover 200 act as a counter for the number of shaving edges that remain. As previously explained, the gear 276 is on the exterior of the assembly, with the cartridge A being positioned in the head 292 oppositely with respect with the position as shown in FIG. 5, and the user may thus observe the arrow 278 in connection with the numbers 280 for this purpose. As the knob 308 is rotated, the roll 250 is likewise rotated, and the band 242 is wound on the outer surface of the roll 250. At the same time, the band 242 is unwound from the-roll 248 which'acts as a supply roll, and the roll 248 rotates in the counterclockwise direction as seen in FIG. 1, inasmuch as the end of the blade 242 is fixed in the roll 248 as it is in the roll 250. The roll 248 is of larger diameter than the roll 250 and in particular has a circumference larger than the length of a shaving edge between the surfaces 214 and 2 16, particularly the length g. The roll 248 thus is given less than a revolution of rotation with the movement of the blade 242'from one shaving position to another, in which the ridges 228 and 230 in each case extend through openings 244 and 246 respectively. The roll 248 may, for example, be made to rotate under these conditions for about 330 degrees as above explained. Therefore, with the first shaving edge to be used being the number 20 shaving edge, with the arrow 278 aligned with the numeral 20 on the face of cover 200 as shown in FIG. 1, the arrow 278 will be moved to align with the numeral 19 on the face of cover 200 when the knob 308 is rotated sufficiently so as to move the blade 242 into the second position in which the blade is to be used. The arrow 278 being in alignment with the number 19 on the face of cover 200 indicates that the user is then using the 19th shaving edge (there are 20 shaving edges altogether on the blade 242 as it is illustrated). The roll 250, as mentioned, preferably has a circumference less than the length g of a shaving edge, and the roll 250 is rotated for slightly more than a revolution in order to cause the blade 242 to move from one shaving edge to the next shaving edge.

As successive lengths of the blade edge 242a are used and dulled and as new lengths are moved into shaving position on the surface 212 by rotation of the knob 308, the large diameter roll 248, having successive lengths of the blade 242 unwound therefrom rotates successive increments of 330 degrees, for example, successively moving the arrow 278 into alignment with the numbers 18, 17, 16, l5, l4, 13, 12, and 11 on the face of cover 200. When the last length of the sharpened edge 242ais in position on the surface 212, with the ridges 228 and 230 extending through openings 244 and 246, the blade 242 is substantially completely unwound from the large diameter roll 248. When the 1 1th shaving edge has been used and dulled, then the cartridge A is removed from the head 292 by releasing the latch 302, and the cartridge A is then replaced in the holder 292 into the position as illustrated in FIG. 5. Under these conditions the gear 276 meshes with the gear 316, and meshing is facilitated by reason of the fact that the teeth on gear 276 have the pointed ends 332 and the teeth 328 have the pointed ends 330, so that the teeth on the gears 276 and 316 cam themselves into intermeshing relation as the cartridge A is moved into its FIG. 5 position in the head 292. The latch 302, as before, holds the cartridge A in position in the head 292.

When the cartridge A is in its FIG. 5 position in the head 292, the spring 322 is compressed axially slightly and the end of the spring carrying the cam portion 326 is in abutting relation with the exterior surface of the cover 200. The spring 322 extends through the slot 320 in the gear 316, and when the knob 308 is turned by the user, the spring portion 325 abuts against an end of the slot 320 and rotates the gear 316 along with the knob 308. The intermeshing gears 316 and 276 then drive the roll 248 in a blade take up rotation.

When the cartridge A is first put into its FIG. 5 position in the head 292, the first (or tenth) shaving edge to be used is opposite the last shaving edge used when the cartridge A was in its other, first described position in the head 292; and this rotation of the knob 308 is for the purpose of moving the blade 242 back again from the 10th shaving position toward a 9th shaving position. As is apparent from the foregoing description, the roll 250 in the initial usage of the cartridge A acts as a blade take up roll and the roll 248 acts as a supply roll. Now, with the cartridge A being in its FIG. position in the head 292, the functions of the rolls 248 and 250 are reversed so that in this case the roll 250 acts as a blade supply roll and the roll 248 acts as a take up roll. When the blade 242 is moved reversely from its original movement, when the cartridge A is in its FIG. 5 position in the head 292, the ridges 228 and 230 act as before as detent mechanism in connection with the portions of the blade 242 between the elongate slots 244 and 246, with appreciable force being necessary on the knob 308 to move the blade 242 over the abruptly slanted end 230a of the ridge 230 to move the blade 242 from one detented position to another detented position, from a th position of the blade edge 242b to a ninth position of the blade edge 242b, for example.

With the circumference'of the small roll 250 being less than the length 3 of a shaving edge, the roll 250 acts as a counter with respect to the second series of shaving lengths of the sharpened blade edge 24212. When the twentieth to 11th shaving lengths have been completely used, as above described, the blade 242 for the most part is wound on the small diameter roll 250, and at the time that the cartridge A is reversed in the head 292 to be put into its FIG. 5 position, the arrow 282 is in alignment with the numeral 10" on the face of the cartridge back 202. The exterior face of the back 202, in this case, is on the exterior of the assembly, located just above the latch 302; and the arrow 282 and numerals l to 10 on the face of back 202 are clearly apparent to the user. When the knob 308 is rotated by the user, the roll 248 is driven through the gears 316 and 276, and the roll 250 is rotated slightly more than one revolution, such as 390, since the circumference of the roll 250 is somewhat less than a shaving length g. Therefore, during the first incremental rotation of the knob 308 in moving the blade 242 from its tenth shaving position to its ninth shavirfg position, the arrow 282 is moved from alignment with the numeral 10 into alignment with the numeral 9 on the face of cartridge back 202, indicating that the ninth shaving length is then in position for usage on surface 212. Similarly, whenthe 9th shaving length has been used, the knob 308 is again rotated so as to wind up an additional length of the blade 242 on the surface of roll 248, and the roll 250 unwinds alength of blade 242 with an accompanying rotation of the roll 250 for390 for example, moving the arrow 282 into alignment with the numeral 8" on back 202. Similarly, additional incremental rotations of the knob 308 will move additional shaving lengths on to the surface 212, with incremental movements of the arrow 282 into alignment with the other numerals 284 on the cartridge back 202 until finally the arrow 282 is in alignment with the numeral 1 indicating that the last shaving length is positioned on the surface 212.

The cam portion 326 of the spring 322 is for the purpose of assuring that the spring 322 can drive the roll 250 through the boss 260 and can drive the gear 316 only in one direction. If the cartridge A is in the head 292 in the first position described above, the cam portion 326 will ratchet over the slanted portion 260a of the boss 260 while if the cartridge A is in its FIG. 5 position in head 292, the cam portion 326 will ratchet in and out of the arcuate slot 320 in the gear 316 for reverse rotation of the knob 308. When the knob 308 is rotated in the reverse direction, with either position of the cartridge A in the head 292, the spring 322 retracts axially and expands outwardly slightly and leaves the surface of the shaft portion 312.

It is desirable during shipment and while the cartridge A is being changed from its first described position in head 292 into its FIG. 5 position that the blade 242 be in contact with the surface 212, with ridges 228 and 230 extending through openings 244 and 246. Therefore, with the cartridge being in its FIG. 1 condition during shipment, preferably the gear 276 is held fixed with respect to the cover 200 by means of a piece of releasable tape which is detached after the cartridge is put into its first described position in head 292. The rolls 248 and 250 preferably have sufficient frictional contact with the inner surfaces of the cover 200 and back 202 so that they do not move appreciably when the cartridge A is reversed to put it into its FIG. 5 position in the head 292; but, if desired, spring detent mechanism, effective for both directions of rotation of the rolls 250 and 248 in the cartridge, may be provided, this being similar to the Nissen detent mechanism, the teeth 24b on a rotatable roll and the fixed teeth 23a described in Nissen U.S. Pat. No. 3,262,198 hereinabove referred to.

The cartridge A illustrated in FIGS. 15 to 18 allows the guards 334 and 336 to be moved up and down with respect to the surface 212 over which the blade 242 moves. If the guard 334 is exposed as shown in FIG. 16, the button 340' may be depressed by the user so as to move the U-shaped member 338 to disengage it from the associated slot walls 346, and then the guard 334 can be moved up or down as desired by the user. The inherent resilience of the U-shaped member 338 will return the part thereof associated with the guard 334 to engage it with the associated slot walls 346 so that the guard 334 is held in its newly adjusted position. The U-shaped member 338 may move in the slot 350; how ever, it is contemplated that the U-shaped member 338 shall have such resilience that a corresponding movement of the guard 336 on the opposite side of the cartridge need not necessarily take place. Similarly the button 342 may be used for adjusting the vertical positioning of the guard 336, when the guard 336 is the one in use for shaving at the time.

Advantageously, the ridges 228 and 230 and particularly their abruptly slanted ends 230a and 228a, utilizing the spring effect of the blade 242, function as detent means for holding the blade in each of its consecutive shaving positions. Since the rolls 248 and 250 are of different diameters and in particular are different than a shaving length 3 of the blade 242, the rolls 248 and 250, in addition to their blade take-up and supply functions may be used as counters for indicating the particular blade length that is being used. The cartridge allows both of the blade edges 242a and 24211 to be used as shaving edges, with a reversal of the cartridge in the head 292, since the roll 250 may be directly driven from the operating knob 308 and the other roll 248 may be driven from the knob 308 through the intermeshing gears 316 and 276.

It is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the specific constructions and arrangements shown and described, except only insofar as the claims are so limited, as it will be apparent to those skilled in roll for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade, a second roll for acting as a take-up means for the blade, both of said rolls being rotatably mounted in said housing, path defining means formed by said housing for a path of travel for said blade between said rolls, driving means for each of said rolls, said driving means for one of said rolls being located on one side of said housing and said driving means for the other of said rolls being located on the other side of said housing so that one of said rolls may be driven when the cartridge is put into a holder in one disposition and the other of said rolls may be driven when the cartridge is put into the holder in the opposite disposition.

2. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 1, one of said driving means constituting a gear disposed on one of the sides of the cartridge.

3. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 1, the other of said drive means including an abutment on the associated one of said rolls.

4. A holder for a razor band cartridge comprising a handle, means for holding the cartridge fixed with respect to the handle, a knob on the exterior of the holder and adapted to have driving connection witha razor band take-up roll in the cartridge, and a gear coaxially disposed with respect to said knob and adapted to be driven by the knob so that the knob may also drive another roll in the cartridge through the gear whereby this roll acts as a razor band take-up roll.

5. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 4, said driving connection being provided by a tang carried by said knob and said tang also providing a driving connection with said gear.

6. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 5, said tang having a cam surface connected to it on its end and being spring pressed so that the tang may cam out of engagement to break either of said driving connections when said knob is rotated backwardly.

7. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 6, said tang constituting an end of a spring which is anchored at its other end with respect to said knob, said gear being provided with a slot through which said tang extends so as to have said driving connection with said gear.

8. A razor cartridge comprising, a housing,.a ribbonlike razor blade, means for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade in the housing, take-up means in the housing for the blade, path defining means in said housing for a path of travel for said blade between said supply means and said take-up means and including a blade supporting surface defining a shaving length, a pair of guards on opposite sides of said housing and located adjacent said surface, and means for holding each of said guards adjustably fixed with respect to said housing so that each of the guards may be moved toward and away from the plane of said surface.

9. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 8, said guards being carried on a member of resilient material that is U-shaped in cross section and engages with the opposite inner surfaces of said housing under the resilient action of the member for adjustably holding the guards in adjusted position.

10. A razor comprising a ribbon-like razor blade, a first roll for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade and a second roll acting as a take-up means for the blade, path defining means including a blade supporting surface defining a shaving length of the blade, the circumference of said supply roll being different from said shaving length, and counting indicia for measuring the rotation of said supply roll and thereby the number of shaving lengths of the blade that are used, said blade and said supply roll and said take-up roll being disposed in a housing forming a cartridge which is adapted to be held by. a cartridge holder and said surface being formed on said housing, said counting indicia being at least partially on external surfaces of said housing, said razor including means for driving both of said rolls alternately whereby to reverse the functions of said supply and take-up rolls, said blade being sharpened on both of its edges so that both edges can be used for shaving, the circumferences of said rolls being different and also being different from said shaving length, and additional counting indicia for said second roll for counting shaving lengths when said second roll is used as a supply roll.

11. A razor and cartridge as set forth in claim 10, said means for driving both of said rolls alternately and said two counting indicia being on opposite sides of said housing so that the cartridge may be driven from one side while the indicia is apparent on the other side and the cartridge may be reversed so as to be driven from the other side and the other indicia is apparent. 

1. A razor cartridge comprising, a housing, a ribbon-like razor blade sharpened on both of its edges, a first roll for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade, a second roll for acting as a take-up means for the blade, both of said rolls being rotatably mounted in said housing, path defining means formed by said housing for a path of travel for said blade between said rolls, driving means for each of said rolls, said driving means for one of said rolls being located on one side of said housing and said driving means for the other of said rolls being located on the other side of said housing so that one of said rolls may be driven when the cartridge is put into a holder in one disposition and the other of said rolls may be driven when the cartridge is put into the holder in the opposite disposition.
 2. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 1, one of said driving means constituting a gear disposed on one of the sides of the cartridge.
 3. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 1, the other of said drive means including an abutment on the associated one of said rolls.
 4. A holder for a razor band cartridge comprising a handle, means for holding the cartridge fixed with respect to the handle, a knob on the exterior of the holder and adapted to have driving connection with a razor band take-up roll in the cartridge, and a gear coaxially disposed with respect to said knob and adapted to be driven by the knob so that the knob may also drive another roll in the cartridge through the gear whereby this roll acts as a razor band take-up roll.
 5. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 4, said driving connection being provided by a tang carried by said knob and said tang also providing a driving connection with said gear.
 6. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 5, said tang having a cam surface connected to it on its end and being spring pressed so that the tang may cam out of engagement to break either of said driving connections when said knob is rotated backwardly.
 7. A holder for a razor band cartridge as set forth in claim 6, said tang constituting an end of a spring which is anchored at its other end with respect to said knob, said gear being provided with a slot through which said tang extends so as to have said driving connection with said gear.
 8. A razor cartridge comprising, a housing, a ribbon-like razor blade, means for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade in the housing, take-up means in the housing for the blade, path defining means in said housing for a path of travel for said blade between said supply means and said take-up means and including a blade supporting surface defining a shaving length, a pair of guards on opposite sides of said housing and located adjacent said surface, and means for holding each of said guards adjustably fixed with respect to said housing so that each of the guards may be moved toward and away from the plane of said surface.
 9. A razor cartridge as set forth in claim 8, said guards being carried on a member of resilient material that is U-shaped in cross section and engages with the opposite inner surfaces of said housing under the resilient action of the member for adjustably holding the guards in adjusted position.
 10. A razor comprising a ribbon-like razor blade, a first roll for holding a supply of the ribbon-like blade and a second roll acting as a take-up means for the blade, path defining means including a blade supporting surface defining a shaving length of the blade, the circumference of said supply roll being different from said shaving length, and counting indicia for measuring the rotation of said supply roll and thereby the number of shaving lengths of the blade that are used, said blade and said supply roll and said take-up roll being disposed in a housing forming a cartridge which is adapted to be held by a cartridge holder and said surface being formed on said housing, said counting indicia being at least partially on external surfaces of said housing, said razor including means for driving both of said rolls alternately whereby to reverse the functions of said supply and take-up rolls, said blade being sharpened on both of its edges so that both edges can be used for shaving, the circumferences of said rolls being different and also being different from said shaving length, and additional counting indicia for said second roll for counting shaving lengths when said second roll is used as a supply roll.
 11. A razor and cartridge as set forth in claim 10, said means for driving both of said rolls alternately and said two counting indicia being on opposite sides of said housing so that the cartridge may be driven from one side while the indicia is apparent on the other side and the cartridge may be reversed so as to be driven from the other side and the other indicia is apparent. 